A tourist from upstate New York had a scary experience last weekend, when the horse pulling the carriage she was on got spooked and started to walk backwards before falling to the ground.
The tourist, Theresa Shaver, can be heard panicking on the video as the carriage begins to careen, saying “Oh my gosh!” again and again. Then she pulls her kid off the carriage and starts crying pretty intensely, as people helped the horse back up. Check out the video below, which Shaver just gave us permission to post.
Afterward, she started yelling at a carriage driver who she says was putting the horse back to work. The video of that exchange is below the first video. A spokesman for the carriage horse association told CBS News that the horse was not pressed back into service.
A debate has raged for the past couple of years over whether horse and carriage rides should be banned from Central Park. Last year, the city passed rules that demand horses get vacations and better treatment, but so far politicians have resisted a full ban.
It’s a bit sad and I completely understand her being scared, but talk about over reaction! Run? It’s obvious she was not thinking clearly. Where was any comment she had about the horse’s safety when it fell? None.
Her argument was not that the horse could be hurt, but that the horse could have potentially hurt her. Her only care was for herself, not the horse.
I run in the park every day, I do not like the carriages and wouldn’t shed a tear for their removal. But in the 15 years of running there, I have never seen one out of line or acting out like this. It’s obviously a large exception.
Chick over-reacted. Horse has problems besides tripping. Poor health is evident from the video. The city should ban this, since these carriage companies can’t be counted on to respect their animals. This horse looks terribly unhealthy in both videos, and that’s evident by his loss of balance. What did he trip on?